Asuka Sasaki

Principal • Joined Colorado Ballet in 2005

Hometown: Nagano, Japan

Asuka Sasaki was born in Nagano, Japan. She trained at the Emiko Kojima Ballet School, Yo Ballet Academy in Japan, and Beijing Dance Academy in China. After Beijing Dance Academy, she joined Canada's Royal Winnipeg Ballet as an Aspirant. She started dancing with Colorado Ballet in 2005 as a member of the Corps de Ballet, was promoted to Soloist in 2010, and then to Principal in 2017. With Colorado Ballet, she has worked with accomplished choreographers such as Val Caniparoli, Derek Deane, Septime Webre, Eldar Aliev, Michael Pink, Ben Stevenson, Lynn Taylor-Corbett, Martin Fredmann, Lila York, Jessica Lang, Dwight Rhoden, Edwaard Liang, and Amy Seiwert. 

Asuka's selected roles and ballets include Kitri in Don Quixote, Cinderella, Autumn Fairy, and Fairy Godmother in Ben Stevenson's Cinderella, Marguerite in Val Caniparoli's Lady of the Camellias, lead in George Balanchine's Theme and Variations, Juliet in Derek Deane's Romeo and Juliet, The Siren in George Balanchine's Prodigal Son, Clara, Sugar Plum, and Dew Drop in The Nutcracker, Gulnara in Le Corsaire, Pas de Trois and Big Swans in Swan Lake, Myrta and Peasant Pas de Deux in Giselle, Aurora, Blue Bird, Fleur de Farine, Miettis Fairy and Diamond in The Sleeping Beauty, Red and Pink Couple in Bruch Violin Concerto No. 1, Soloist in George Balanchine's Concerto Barocco, Helena in A Midsummer Night's Dream, Russian in George Balanchine’s Serenade, Firebird in Firebird, Jirí Kylián's Petite Mort, Little Mermaid in The Little Mermaid, Mina in Michael Pink's Dracula, Fernand Nault's Carmina Burana, Dorothy in Septime Webre's The Wizard of Oz, Hagar in Antony Tudor's Pillar of Fire, Odette/Odile in Swan Lake, and Nellie in Val Caniparoli’s Jekyll & Hyde.